Do retinal ganglion cells project natural scenes to their principal subspace and whiten them?

Several theories of early sensory processing suggest that it whitens sensory stimuli. Here, we test three key predictions of the whitening theory using recordings from 152 ganglion cells in salamander retina responding to natural movies. We confirm the previous finding that firing rates of ganglion cells are less correlated compared to natural scenes, although significant correlations remain. We show that while the power spectrum of ganglion cells decays less steeply than that of natural scenes, it is not completely flattened. Finally, we find evidence that only the top principal components of the visual stimulus are transmitted.Comment: 2016 Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computer

Screening for microscopic hematuria in school-age children of the Gorgan city

Screening for hematuria was carried out in 3000 school-age children (6 to14 years old) in Gorgan, Iran, using a fresh morning urine sample. At the initial step, 208 (6.8%) had positive dipstick tests for blood, which decreased to 35 (1.2%) at the second step. Of the 35 children with hematuria, 27 (77.1%) were girls and 8 (22.9%) were boys. Twenty-six children were further evaluated of whom 5 had normal findings, and 7 had hypercalciuria, 13 had nephrolithiasis, and in 1 had a large cystic lesion on ultrasonography, ultimately diagnosed as oncocystoma

Complications leading to hospitalization due to consumption of anti-TB drugs in patients with tuberculosis in Gorgan, Iran (2007-12)

Background and Objective: Anti tuberculosis drugs therapy is the most effective method for controling the tuberculosis (TB). Early detection and appropriate treatment can prevent the TB-drug resistance. This study was carried out to determine the complications leading to hospitalization due to consumption of anti-TB drugs in patients with tuberculosis. Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, 1550 records of patients with TB in urban and rural health centers of Gorgan, north of Iran were assessed during 2007-12. Checklist consists of demographic and clinical data for each patient was recorded in a questionare. Results: 44 cases experienced the complications of anti-TB drugs. 27 (61.4%) of cases with complications were women. 77.3% and 22.7% of patients affected with pulmonary and extra pulmonary tuberculosis,respectively. 38.6% of patients were diabetic. The hepatic complication was seen in 37 cases (84.1%). Skin and other complications were seen in 5 and 2 cases, respectively. There was not any relationship between drug complications and other disases. Conclusion: Hepatic damage is the most common complication leading to hospitalization in tuberculosis patients using anti-TB drugs. Keywords: Tuberculosis, Anti-TB drug, Live

The Performance of CRTNT Fluorescence Light Detector for Sub-EeV Cosmic Ray Observation

Cosmic Ray Tau Neutrino Telescopes (CRTNT) using for sub-EeV cosmic ray measurement is discussed. Performances of a stereoscope configuration with a tower of those telescopes plus two side-triggers are studied. This is done by using a detailed detector simulation driven by Corsika. Detector aperture as a function of shower energy above 10^17 eV is calculated. Event rate of about 20k per year for the second knee measurement is estimated. Event rate for cross calibration with detectors working on higher energy range is also estimated. Different configurations of the detectors are tried for optimization.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to HEP & N

Protective effects of vitamins/antioxidants on occupational noise induced hearing loss: A systematic review

Objectives: Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) due to industrial, military, and other job related noise exposure can cause harmful health issues to occupied workers, but may also be potentially preventable. Vitamins/antioxidant have been studied as therapeutic strategies to prevent and/or delay the risks of human diseases as well as NIHL. So, this study was conducted to systematically review the protective effects of vitamins/ antioxidants on occupational noise induced hearing loss. Methods: Online databases including PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE, Science Direct, and Google Scholar were systematically searched up to 12.January 2021. Based on 6336 potentially relevant records identified through the initial search in the databases, twelve full-text publications were retrieved, one of which can be viewed as two separate trials, because it has studied the effects of two different antioxidants (Ginseng and NAC) on NIHL, separately. Results: A review of the studies show that vitamin B12, folic acid, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) have a considerable protective effect on NIHL. However, these protective effects are not yet specified in different frequencies. The findings regarding the protective effects of other antioxidants are inconsistent in this field. Conclusion: Vitamin B12, folic acid, and NAC may have a protective effect as an antioxidant on reducing occupational hearing loss. For a conclusive evidence of vitamins/antioxidants protective therapies, future studies with precise criteria for noise exposure and similar outcome parameters are required

Embedding into bipartite graphs

The conjecture of Bollob\'as and Koml\'os, recently proved by B\"ottcher, Schacht, and Taraz [Math. Ann. 343(1), 175--205, 2009], implies that for any $\gamma>0$, every balanced bipartite graph on $2n$ vertices with bounded degree and sublinear bandwidth appears as a subgraph of any $2n$-vertex graph $G$ with minimum degree $(1+\gamma)n$, provided that $n$ is sufficiently large. We show that this threshold can be cut in half to an essentially best-possible minimum degree of $(\frac12+\gamma)n$ when we have the additional structural information of the host graph $G$ being balanced bipartite. This complements results of Zhao [to appear in SIAM J. Discrete Math.], as well as Hladk\'y and Schacht [to appear in SIAM J. Discrete Math.], who determined a corresponding minimum degree threshold for $K_{r,s}$-factors, with $r$ and $s$ fixed. Moreover, it implies that the set of Hamilton cycles of $G$ is a generating system for its cycle space.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

1,1-Diethyl-3-(4-meth­oxy­benzo­yl)thio­urea

In the title compound, C13H18N2O2S, the 4-meth­oxy­benzoyl fragment is approximately planar [maximum deviation = 0.057 (2) Å] and twisted relative to the thio­amide fragment, forming a dihedral angle of 86.62 (6)°. The two Csp 2—Nsp 2 bonds in the thio­urea unit differ significantly in length [1.327 (2) and 1.431 (2) Å]. In the crystal, N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into chains parallel to [010]

N-(Pyrrolidin-1-ylcarbothio­yl)benzamide

In the title compound, C12H14N2OS, the pyrrolidine ring adopts an envelope conformation with the C atom at the 3-position as the flap and makes a dihedral angle of 65.80 (9)° with the benzene ring. In the crystal, N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds join c-glide related mol­ecules into chains extended along [001] that are further connected into (100) layers via C—H⋯O inter­actions